Virtual Genealogy Project for Ruth Paget by Ruth Paget

Virtual Genealogy Project for Ruth Paget by Ruth Paget 

One of the skills I learned while studying for an MLIS in Library and Information Science at San José State University in California was how to do genealogical research using public records such as newspaper obituaries and death notices. 

A librarian’s rite of passage prank is to have a newbie open a tightly coiled microfiche film container and put it into a reader only to have it fly half way across the library, because you failed to “firmly hold the microfiche on one side” while feeding it through the reader. 

The second rite of passage is recoiling the microfiche and trying to find the needle in the haystack obituary for an approximate death date of “sometime in 1898.” Once you find the obituary, you have to tightly recoil the microfiche to fit in a small tubular canister without letting it fly across the library again. 

Library staff like to remind librarians “only librarians with a master’s degree can do the genealogical work. That’s not in our job description.” 

Since I have graduated from library school, many genealogical records have been uploaded to the internet, most notably to ancestry.com. Genealogical research appears to have moved into phase 2.0 with many records appearing in search engines like Google.  

I recently did a virtual project test on my English Pennington ancestors. The first names of my ancestors reflect religious dissent through generations of Baptists, Quakers, Puritans, Church of England members (Episcopalians in the US), and maybe even some Masons. 

I was happy with the results of my online search and recorded the results below. G before a number means “generation.” 

G15 – Ruth Paget – Maiden Name: Pennington

-daughter of Clarence Pennington and Beatrice May Sawle 

Born: Wayne County, Detroit, Michigan 

G14 – Clarence Pennington 

-son of Frederick McKinley Pennington and Rose Nora Belle Thomas 

Born: Lee County, Pennington Gap, Virginia 

Died: Lee County, Pennington Gap, Virginia 

G13 - Frederick McKinley Pennington 

-son of Charles W. Pennington and Nancy Arminta Clark 

Born: 1896, Virginia 

Died: 1958, Virginia 

G12 – Charles W. Pennington

-son of Greenberry Pennington and Letitia Robbins 

Born: 1862, Lee County, Virginia 

Died: 1932, Lee County, Virginai 

G11 – Greenberry Pennington 

-son of Charles Daniel Pennington and Dianah Parsons 

Born: 1826, Lee County, Virginia Died: 1894, Lee County, Virginia 

G10 – Charles Daniel Pennington 

-son of Micajeh Pennington Jr and Rachel Jones 

Born: 1804, Lee County, Virginia 

Died: 1876, Lee County, Virginia 

G9 – Micajeh M Pennington Jr 

-son of Benajeh Pennington Jr and Cynthia Corey 

Born: 1763, Wilkes County, North Carolina 

Died: 1850, Harlan County, Kentucky  

G8 – Captain Micajeh M Pennington Sr 

-son of Benajeh Pennington Sr and Elizabeth Humphrey 

Born: 1743, North Carolina 

Died: 1815, Wilkes County, North Carolina 

G7 –Benajeh Pennington Sr

 -son of Epharaim Pennington IV and Joanna Davis 

Born: 1723, Salisbury, Rowan, North Carolina 

Died: about 1794, Wilkes County, North Carolina 

G6 - Ephraim Pennington IV 

-son of Ephraim Pennington III and Mary, a Delaware Native American 

Born: about 1689 in Morristown, Middlesex, New Jersey 

Died: about 1750 in Rowan, Bladen, North Carolina 

G5 – Ephraim Pennington III 

-son of Ephraim Pennington II and Mary Brockett

Born: about 1668, Newark, Essex, New Jersey 

Died: about 1694, Morris, New Jersey

G4 – Ephraim Pennington II 

-son of Ephraim Pennington I and Mary (no name given) 

Born: about 1645, New Haven, Connecticut 

Died: 1693, Newark, Essex, New Jersey 

G3 – Ephraim Pennington I 

-son of William Pennington and Marie Wilson

Born: about 1629, Muncaster Parish, Cumberland, England 

Died: About 1660, New Haven, Connecticut 

G2 – William Ephraim Pennington

-son of John Pennington Esquire and Ellen Leigh 

Born: before 1595, Wigen, Lancashire, England 

Died: About 1652, Muncaster, Cumberlad, England 

G1 – John Pennington Esquire 

-Born July 5, 1573, Hawkshead, Lancashire, England

-Died: About 1652 in England 

Note: Legal names may differ from baptismal names. 

I enjoyed gathering this information and liked finding all the family groups that I am related to by marriage as well. You have to verify what you find out about your family online, but it does give you material to start with when researching your family history.

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Sherlock Holmes Pub in Carmel, California by Ruth Paget

The Sherlock Holmes Pub in Carmel, California is closed now, but I used to love going there for British Pub fare and a Newcastle Brown Ale.  

Thank you Monterey County Weekly for retrieving this fun article about “my local” out of the archives.  The review follows:

https://www.montereycountynow.com/news/local_news/carmel-s-sherlock-holmes-pub-mixes-british-and-american-classics/article_618a214d-352a-5f95-999f-307c9f027e3a.amp.html

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Au Jus: The Beef and Veal Society Game Created by Ruth Paget

Au Jus: The Beef and Veal Society Game Created by Ruth Paget 

One of the simplest sauce you can make for any type of meal is an au jus sauce, which is the cooking liquid. I add crushed shallot or garlic, sea salt, and chopped parsley to this and spoon it over the meat and buttered mashed potatoes and vegetables like green beans. I like simple preparations. 

I mostly cook pork chops, T-bone steaks, lamb shank, and now that I am older hamburgers for events like July 4th. The secret to cooking these items is knowing the weight and the internal temperature for the doneness you would like. In this game, you will learn some basic buying and cooking skills that will make your beef and veal purchases the best value for your money. 

Game Objectives: 

1-Describe meat cut by name 

2-Memorize cooking temperatures for desired doneness 

3-Identify where cuts come from using an animal map 

4-Reward: Learn to grill hamburgers 

Materials Needed: 

-The book Meat Illustrated: A Foolproof Guide by Cook’s Illustrated

-Index cards 

-pen 

-tracing paper 

-notebook paper 

-square stove top grill 

-metal spatula

-meat thermometer 

-your favorite fixings for hamburger 

Game 1: Describe Meat Cut by Name 

On an index card, write the main meat cut name and the subcategory name on the front. On the back of the card, note in your own words where the cut comes from on the cow or calf. You will use the following meat cut vocabulary for this game: 

*chuck 

-chuck-eye roast 

-chuck-eye steak 

-top-blade roast 

-blade steak 

-flat-iron steak 

-bone chuck roast 

*Rib

-first-cut standing rib roast

-second cut standing rib roast 

-rib steak 

-double-cut bone-in rib steak 

-rib-eye steak 

*Short Loin 

-top loin roast 

-boneless strip steak 

-porterhouse steak 

*Tenderloin 

-whole beef tenderloin 

-center-cut beef tenderloin roast 

-filet mignon 

*Sirloin -top sirloin roast -top sirloin steak -tri-tip roast -flap meat 

*Round 

-top round roast

-bottom round roast 

-boneless eye 

– round roast 

*Brisket 

-flat-cut brisket 

-point-cut brisket 

*Plate 

-skirt steak 

-beef plate ribs 

*Flank 

-flank steak 

*Short Ribs 

-English-style short ribs 

-Flanken-style short ribs 

*Shanks and oxtails 

-beef shanks 

-oxtails 

*Veal 

-shoulder roast 

-veal rib chops 

-veal cutlets 

-veal shanks 

Quiz yourself on the cut names and how to describe them till you know them. This list is long, but offers hours of free entertainment. 

Game 2: Memorize Cooking Temperature for Desired Doneness 

Page 11 in Meat Illustrated lists the cooking time temperatures while cooking and after resting to let cooking juices distribute evenly throughout the meat. There are only 10 items to memorize here, but they will make you feel more confident about cooking meat. 

Write the doneness levels down on the front of the index cards for cooking temperature and resting temperature. On the back of the cards, note the temperature for the various levels. 

Quiz yourself till you know the information. 

Game 3: Describe where the meat cuts come from on an animal map 

Use the tracing paper to outline the cow map in Meat Illustrated. Use a number to note where the main cuts come from. On notebook paper, write down the numbers. Use the map you drew on tracing paper to identify cuts and location and note them. Use the book’s animal map as an answer key. 

Quiz yourself till you know the information. 

Game 4: Reward: Grill Hamburgers according to the directions in Meat Illustrated 

Enjoy your burger and be ready for July 4th and summer picnics. 

Happy grilling! 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Greek Grape Leaf Recipes and Nutrient Profile reposted by Ruth Paget

The 5 Ways to Cook with Grape Leaves blog that follows looks great:

https://blog.markethallfoods.com/inside-market-hall/5-ways-to-cook-with-grape-leaves

Sautéed Greek grape leaves with lemon juice and olive oil are called Horta.  A blog recipe for them follows:

https://foragerchef.com/horta/

Department of Agriculture Information on how to prepare fresh grape leaves:

https://ucanr.edu/sites/default/files/2017-08/266942.pdf

Grape leaves’ nutrient profile follows:

https://foodstruct.com/food/grape-leaves

You might want to check this information with some other sources.  I used this site, because I liked the visual presentation of information.

Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Organic Spinach and Blue Cheese Salad at the Stillwater Bar and Grill at Pebble Beach, California by Ruth Paget

Organic Spinach and Blue Cheese Salad at Stillwater Bar and Grill in Pebble Beach, California by Ruth Paget  

My husband Laurent, daughter Florence Paget, and I decided to eat Sunday lunch at the newly re-opened Lodge at Pebble Beach, California. 

Our restaurant choice was the Stillwater Bar and Grill, which has large windows that look out over the Pacific and the 18th (5-par) hole on the golf course. The Stillwater serves American food with a great selection of seafood. 

What I really wanted on the fall day we went, though, was a salad. 

Monterey County grows delicious organic produce, so I celebrated fall with a “feel-good” salad as people in Detroit where I grew up were wont to say about the Greek salads we consumed in abundance during winter months to stay healthy. Stillwater’s “feel-good” salad is the California Coastal Spinach Salad is a lacto-ovo vegetarian’s dream. (Lacto-ovo vegetarians eat eggs and dairy in addition to produce.) 

This vitamin-rich salad contains: 

-baby spinach 

-frisée lettuce 

-magenta-colored endive 

-corn kernals 

-red grape halves

-cherry tomato halves

 -small cucumber slices 

-chunks of avocado 

-chunks of Port Reyes blue cheese

-toasted and sliced almonds 

The blue cheese dressing ties all these rather sweet ingredients together and adds additional protein and calcium to the blue cheese that is already in the salad. Blue cheese also contains iodine and selenium, which provide several health benefits as well.

Along with this delicious salad, I ate grilled baguette slices that had been stuffed with slices of Brie cheese and mushroom slices. The baguette slices were buttered, and the grilling gave them a golden, crunchy crust. The Brie cheese inside the baguette melted around the mushrooms, making each bite an oozing bite of deliciousness. 

Laurent and Florence both ate a seared sole fillet with baby vegetables and drank a Tiefenbrunner pinot grigio from Italy’s northeastern Alto-Adige region, which borders Austria. (This region has also been called the Sud Tyrol.) Both Laurent and Florence said the fish and wine together were a nice way to begin celebrating the holidays. 

For dessert, Florence and Laurent shared the Valrhona chocolate cake. I ate the toasted walnut cake that was loaded with caramelized milk whip and came with candied walnuts that were flavored with lavender. The desserts completed the meal and made me skip dinner. 

The meal was just wonderful and filling. 

The Stillwater Bar and Grill in Pebble Beach, California is a nice spot for weekend lunches with family (several came in while we were there) and gatherings for the holidays. The Lodge has private rooms and catering facilities for large events as well. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Deluxe Bar Nibbles at Traps Lounge in Pebble Beach, California by Ruth Paget

Deluxe Bar Nibbles at Traps Lounge in Pebble Beach, California by Ruth Paget 

The place for deluxe bar nibbles at Pebble Beach, California is Traps Lounge located next to Pèppoli Restaurant (25 years at Pebble Beach and counting). 

My husband Laurent, daughter Florence Paget, and I went out for a bar nibble meal recently that turned into a pretty delicious light dinner. Laurent and Florence shared an artisanal cheese plate that came with sharp cheddar cheese and loads of fresh Roquefort along with organic berries from Monterey County. 

Laurent ordered a very good Italian wine to go with the cheese – a 2023 Chianti Classico made by Antinori. The bottle had the distinguishing marks of a good Chianti – a rooster on the label and the letters DOCG on a ribbon label around the wine bottle’s neck. DOCG means “Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita” in Italian and designates this Chianti as having the highest legal rank a wine can carry in Italy. 

The Chianti Classico was dry and tasted of dried red berries and walnuts – all good flavors to go with artisanal cheese. 

While Laurent and Florence ate the cheese, I ate a jumbo shrimp cocktail with horseradish-rich cocktail sauce, which I love. The meaty shrimp whetted my appetite for more bar nibbles. 

I ordered the spicy, 10-wings plate with thick and creamy blue cheese dressing to share with Florence. This wing combination was famous as a specialty of Buffalo, New York when I was growing up in Detroit, Michigan. I liked being a working class sophisticate and always ordered the blue cheese dipping sauce like it was served in Buffalo as a teen. 

Laurent ordered the spaghetti Bolognese (a chopped roast boar and tomato sauce) as his main dish. He said it tasted great with the Chianti Classico. This dish also came with shaved slices of Parmesan cheese. 

The next time I go to Traps Lounge, I will order the pasta Bolognese, too. The spaghetti in this dish is house made and a little thicker than spaghetti made from dried pasta. 

The bar nibbles quickly became a nice meal at Traps Lounge at Pebble Beach (California), because the food was so good. 

If you like upscale bar dishes, the Traps Lounge at Pebble Beach is first-rate food tourism for you. 

(Note: You can buy the Chianti Classico by Antinori at the Stave Tasting Room at Pebble Beach.)

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Tonic Fall Deli Meal at the Gallery Cafe in Pebble Beach, California by Ruth Paget

Tonic Fall Deli Lunch at the Gallery in Pebble Beach, California by Ruth Paget 

Cool, rainy fall weather was the perfect setting for a spa lunch outing at the Gallery Café in Pebble Beach, California for my daughter Florence Paget and me in mid-November 2025. 

We ordered fried calamari to start that came with a horseradish-rich dipping sauce. This crunchy treat has iron, B vitamins, and protein in it. Moderation, though, in eating is the key to keeping off weight when eating the yummy, crunchy breading. 

Then, I ordered a substantial deli-style Reuben sandwich that came with tender corned beef that was not overly salty, tangy Swiss cheese, salty but not watery sauerkraut, and piquant Russian dressing made with ketchup, horseradish, and Worcestershire sauce. The bread, of course, was a slightly bitter, grilled marbled rye. I like this flavor combination. 

The Reuben came with a neat mound of deep-fried onion rings and a house-made dill pickle. Onions contain many antioxidants, so I always order them when give that option. 

My favorite thing to drink with a Reuben is a pilsner beer, but I ordered unsweetened iced tea instead. The tea the Gallery uses is a strong black one, probably Indian Darjeeling. Black tea is an antioxidant, so I also order tea on spa lunches. (I call pretty healthy lunches “spa lunches.) 

My daughter Florence shared the calamari with me. For her main dish, Florence ordered a Killer Klub. The Killer Klub was made with the usual combination of turkey, Swiss cheese, tomato, and lettuce along with slices of fresh avocado – a very California touch. (Hamburger tastes good with avocado slices, too.) 

For people who enjoy cool, fall weather, Pebble Beach offers several activities to do besides golf – golf lessons, horseback riding, spa services, and walks along the oceanfront. Bird watchers can often see several species fly right over their heads and nest. 

I like to visit Pebble Beach to try out the dining options in fall, so I would add food tourism to the list of things to do at Pebble Beach, California. 

Enjoy the perfect sweater weather this fall with a great meal! 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France